Daimler-BMW mobility venture aims to be global player: Daimler CFO

STUTTGART (Reuters) - Daimler and BMW’s new joint mobility services division aims to become a global player through both organic growth and acquisitions, Daimler Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said on Thursday.

“We want to grow significantly and we are in a position to handle large acquisitions,” Uebber said.

The two leading German luxury carmakers unveiled plans on Wednesday to combine their businesses in new services such as car-sharing and electric vehicle charging to compete with Uber [UBER.UL] in the United States and Didi Chuxing in China.

They will each hold half of a new joint venture company, which Daimler’s Uebber said was likely to be headquartered in Germany.

He said that Daimler and BMW’s financial strength could help the venture fund takeovers but said they were also open to adding new partners.

The idea of listing the new company is currently not in focus, Uebber said, saying the main priority was for now to close the deal.